F&P reaches last stage of whiteware shakeup

By YOKE HAR LEE

Fisher & Paykel will phase out its programmable state controller operation as part of the whiteware division's refocusing on core activities.

Chief executive Gary Paykel told the that the move would spell the end of the division's restructuring, begun about 18 months ago.

"It was really the last thing we tackled. The whiteware division is now trading well."

All but a handful of the 30 staff working on the controller would be redeployed, Mr Paykel said. the operation accounted for only a very small percentage of revenue.

The division built the hardware and software that controlled production systems. It was developed inhouse over the past 15 years to provide flexibility for manufacturing.

Mr Paykel said the decision to phase out the operation was largely because the division was not making money.

"And for us to undertake the commitment to market the product internationally would be a huge commitment. We just don't have the resources.

"We are really better off to put those resources into our core products."

Existing clients of Fisher & Paykel's controllers would be supported for the next decade or so, said Mr Paykel.

Early this year, Fisher & Paykel shut down Screencraft, the division making the printed circuit boards for electronics. Despite having greatly reduced production costs, Fisher & Paykel could not compete with overseas products.

Mr Paykel said the decision to shut down Screencraft was the right move, confirmed by the company's attendance at the Cologne electronics fair.

"We were almost psychic, you get lucky sometimes. The trend is towards a different circuit board which we weren't set up to make.

"We are now getting good economies of scale by buying offshore."